Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.

&mdash Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Caaaaake... must... eat... caaake...

I always have the best birthdays and this year was no exception: C. & I spent most of the day in bed, playing Mercenaries, eating the spice cake she baked me and cooing over how great I looked in the retro CBC shirts she got me: the 50s design is on a soft, comfy lined tee, and the 70s "exploding pizza" logo looks great on the warm, long-sleeve blue cotton one.

Later, we met my folks for a quick supper at Mesquìte and giggled ourselves senseless over the "pulled pork" before heading home to watch Hallowe'en-weekend zombie movies. Now that's a birthday.

* * *

Conventional wisdom around movie remakes is that, by and large, they suck ass. Securing the rights to an older picture is usually expensive, which means that a big, creativity-crushing studio ends up footing the bill. Alternately, a studio remakes a product it already owns, in which case it's invested in protecting the sanctity of its brand. Either way, the audience is usually left with a tepid, half-assed collection of ironic winks and over-produced garbage.

Not so with the 1990 remake of the 1968 classicNight of the Living Dead. Starring Patricia Tallman, Tony Todd (of Candyman "fame") and Tom Towles, this version is a crisp, smart version of the now-archetypal story. All of the original's tense pathos is maintained while the social commentary is actually ratcheted up slightly: closing shots of lynched zombies surrounded by hollering rednecks are lingered over instead of hinted at, and the transformation of the 'Barbara' character from withdrawn, mousy victim into a take-charge, rifle-carrying, no-bullshit protagonist both speak to a new social context that nevertheless shares many of the same concerns that fuelled the original movie. In fact, this version does what the best remakes (and cover songs) should do: it reminds us of the original's timeless qualities. If you dig zombie movies, I'd definitely suggest checking out this updated classic.

Plus, it's got Patricia Tallman: perhaps better known as 'Lyta Alexander' on Babylon 5, she's a career stuntwoman and member of the Stunt Woman's Association of America. She also co-founded the Galactic Gateway, a sci-fi web portal and works closely with Penny Lane, a Californian children's charity. Pretty cool.

Oh, and here's some interesting trivia: it was directed by Tom Savini, who was hired by Romero to do the makeup effects on the original (1968) Night of the Living Dead. Neat, huh?